BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, NY – The St. Francis College men's basketball team is set to tip-off the 2020-21 season against Northeast Conference (NEC) for Bryant on Tuesday, December 8, at 7 p.m., inside the Daniel Lynch '38 Gymnasium at the Pope Physical Education Center. Here are 21 things to note ahead of the 2020-21 campaign:
1 – 2020-21 NEC PRESEASON POLL & HONORS
Chauncey Hawkins was named a unanimous selection to the 2020-21 Preseason All-NEC Team as announced by the league office during Virtual Media Day on November 12. The Terriers were selected to finish fifth in the NEC Preseason Coaches' Poll. Fairleigh Dickinson was tabbed the Preseason favorite as the Knights earned six first-place votes. LIU came in second with four first-place votes, while Bryant and Mount St. Mary's were tied for third. Saint Francis (PA) was picked sixth, Merrimack was tabbed seventh, while Wagner was polled in eighth-place. Central Connecticut and Sacred Heart rounded out the Preseason Poll in ninth and 10th-place, respectively.
2 – TERRIERS COACHING RECORD
St. Francis Brooklyn men's basketball head coach
Glenn Braica passed Rody Cooney for third place on the program all-time wins list for victories by a head coach on November 18, 2018, vs. Lafayette. Braica is just one of four Terriers' head coaches to win over 100 games in their career.
3 – NEC COACHING VETERANS
Head Coach
Glenn Braica is the longest-tenured current Head Coach in the NEC as he took over the Terriers' men's basketball program before the 2010-11 season. Braica is the active leader for overall wins at an NEC institution with 145. LIU's Derek Kellogg has the most career wins of any coach in the NEC with 204 (nine years at UMass, three years at LIU). Braica has an 8-2 all-time record in NEC openers. Braica leads all current NEC Head Coaches with 93 league wins, Wagner's Bashir Mason is second with 83, followed by Saint Francis (PA)'s Rob Krimmel with 78.
4 – COACHING TENURE IN MET AREA
Terriers' Head Coach
Glenn Braica and Seton Hall's Head Coach Kevin Willard are the two longest tenured Division I Head Coaches in the Metropolitan area. Both Braica and Willard were hired to take over the helm of their respective programs prior to the 2010-11 season.
5 – CHASING 150
Coach Braica has collected 145 career wins and is just five wins shy of hitting the 150-win mark. Braica would become just the third coach in program history to win 150 or more games joining Daniel Lynch (283 wins) and
Ron Ganulin (187 wins). Braica has the most overall wins of any NEC Coach at its current institution. LIU's Derrick Kellogg is the career leader with 204 wins (nine years at UMass, three years at LIU).
6 – COACHING CONNECTION
Coach Braica served as an Assistant and then Associate Head Coach at St. Francis from 1990-2004 as a member of
Ron Ganulin's staff. Braica hired Ganulin to join his staff at St. Francis as an Assistant Coach prior to the 2013-14 season
7 – THE RETURNING CAST
The Terriers return eight letterwinners from a season ago which accounted for 70 percent of their scoring. St. Francis returns four of its top five scorers from the 2019-20 season in
Chauncey Hawkins (15.1 ppg),
Unique McLean (11.4 ppg),
Rob Higgins (11.1 ppg), and
Stevan Krtinic (6.0 ppg). The Terriers are one of just two teams in the NEC to return three student-athletes who averaged double figures a season ago. Fairleigh Dickinson is the other team as the Knights return Jahlil Jenkins (16.0 ppg), Xzavier Malone-Key (12.3 ppg), and Elyjah Williams (11.8 ppg). Hawkins led the Terriers in points, assists, steals, field goals made, field goals attempted, free-throws made, and free-throws attempted in 2019-20. Last season, McLean led the Terriers in rebounding (8.0 rpg).
8 – METROPOLITAN AREA ROOTS
66.7 percent of the Terriers' roster is comprised of student-athletes from the Metropolitan area. 53.3 percent of St. Francis' roster hails from the state of New York. Seven of the eight native New Yorkers hail from the city of Brooklyn. The Terriers' Brooklynites include
Travis Atson,
Yaradyah Evans,
Elijah Hardison,
Unique McLean,
Larry Moreno,
Abdallah Wague, and
Jordan Williams. Atson and McLean have known each other since they are 13 and played on the same AAU Nike team (PSA Cardinals) for two years.
Rob Higgins and
Alex May are both from New Jersey.
9 – SERBIAN TIES
The Terriers have had at least one student-athlete on their roster who has hailed from Serbia in 12 out of the last 13 seasons (2014-15 they did not have a Serbian on the roster). Stefan Perunicic (2008-12), Milos Trivic (2010-13),
Aleksandar Isailovic (2012-14), Jagos Lasic (2015-18),
Milija Cosic (2017-20),
Stevan Krtinic (2019-Present), and
Vuk Stevanic (2020-Present).
10 – HOME COOKIN'
Over the past three seasons, the Terriers have collected an impressive 30-11 record at the Daniel Lynch '38 Gymnasium. In 2019-20, St. Francis was tied for the fourth-most home wins in the NEC with nine. Over the past three seasons, St. Francis is 14-1 at home in non-conference games and 11-0 since the start of 2018-19. In 2018-19, St. Francis went 11-3 at home; the 11 wins were the most since the 2014-15 season when it won 13 contests at the Daniel Lynch '38 Gymnasium. In 2017-18, the Terriers put together a 10-3 record in Brooklyn Heights.
11 – HAWKINS RECORD BOOK WATCH
Chauncey Hawkins became the 33
rd member of the Terriers' 1,000 Point Club against Robert Morris on March 4, 2020, in the NEC Quarterfinals. He became the first Terrier to reach the 1,000-point plateau since former teammate Glenn Sanabria did so during the 2018-19 season. With 1,005 career points, Hawkins is just four points shy of tying Akeem Johnson for 32
nd-place on the all-time scoring list. Hawkins currently sits in fifth-place on the Terriers' all-time made free-throw list with 299 made free-throws. Ricky Cadell sits in fourth-place with 319 made free-throws. Jalen Cannon is the Terriers' all-time leader in made free-throws with 416.
12 – HAWK'S BIG DAY
On February 29, 2020,
Chauncey Hawkins tallied a career-high 38 points on 8-of-20 shooting from the field, 3-of-7 from three-point range, and 19-of-20 from the free-throw line in an 85-79 win at CCSU. The 19 made free-throws tied the men's basketball program record which was set by James Raftery who also made 19 free-throws in a game on December 16, 1961, against Loyola. The 19 makes from the line were the third-most in a game in NEC history. Hawkins' 38 points were the second-most scored in a game by an NEC student-athletes in 2019-20. He was the first Terrier to score 30 or more points in a game since Yunus Hopkinson recorded 34 points against Sacred Heart on February 9, 2017.
13 – BACK FOR SECONDS
Rob Higgins emerged onto the scene in Brooklyn Heights as a freshman in 2019-20. Higgins was selected to the NEC All-Rookie Team and was tabbed the NEC Co-Rookie of the Week on January 22, 2020. Last season, Higgins averaged 11.1 points per game to lead all NEC rookies. He also led all led all NEC rookies in scoring during conference play as he averaged 12.2 points per game. The guard enters his sophomore year and looks to build upon his stellar freshman campaign.
14 – UNIQUE MCDOUBLE-DOUBLE
In 2019-20,
Unique McLean recorded six double-double, the most by a Terrier since Antonio Jenifer also tallied six during the 2015-16 season. His six double-doubles were tied for the seventh-most in the NEC last season. In NEC play, McLean averaged 11.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game over 18 conference games. All six of his double-doubles came during NEC play. The six double-doubles were tied for the 25th-most by a guard throughout the nation.
15 – LIGHT CHEESE LARRY
Following the 2019-20 season,
Larry Moreno became a viral social media sensation for his trick shots that he posts to his personal Instagram page (@lcf_larry). Has been featured on ESPN.com, ESPN SportsCenter, Overtime, House of Highlights, Complex, FIBA, SLAM, Reuters, ABC News, NBC Access Hollywood, NBC 4 New York, FOX 5 New York, PIX 11 New York, 1010 WINS, New York Post, News 12 Brooklyn. Since he first went viral on March 25, 2020, his Instagram following has grown to over 70K followers.
16 – CB RANKED AS A TOP FIVE ASSISTANT IN NEC
Associate Head Coach
Clive Bentick was ranked as one of the top five Assistants in the NEC by Stadium this past Summer. Bentick enters his 14th season on staff at St. Francis and his second as Associate Head Coach. He has helped guide the Terriers to 11 NEC Tournament appearances during his tenure.
17 – 19 GAME SCHEDULE
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the Terriers will play 19 games during the 2020-21 season. 18 of the 19 games will be NEC contests, with the one lone non-conference game being against Tri-state area foe Saint Peter's on December 23. The 19-game schedule marks the fewest games that the Terriers will play in a single-season since the 1945-46 season when they played 18 games and posted an overall record of 12-6. The entire schedule is subject to change.
18 – 2021 NEC CHAMPIONSHIP INFORMATION
The 2021 NEC Men's Basketball Tournament field has been reduced from eight teams to four teams with games being contested at the home of the higher seed. The Semifinals will take place on Saturday, March 6, and the Championship on Tuesday, March 9.
19 – 2020-21 JERSEY BREAKDOWN
20 – TERRIER FAN CUTOUTS
Due to current New York State guidelines in regards to the COVID-19 pandemic fans are not permitted to attend St. Francis Brooklyn basketball home games until further notice. St. Francis fans have the unique opportunity to show off their Terrier pride by purchasing a personalized Terrier Cutout for the 2020-21 season that will be featured inside the Daniel Lynch '38 Gymnasium at the Pope Physical Education Center. To be a part of SFC history and secure a Terrier Cutout, visit
SFCAthletics.com/TerrierCutouts. Each Terrier Cutout is $50.00 per individual order.
21 – NEC FRONT ROW (IT'S FREE… WATCH IT!)
All home and conference games will be streamed on
NEC Front Row the online digital network of the Northeast Conference. With live webcasts, highlight packages, coaches shows, full-game archives, and interactive social media components, this state-of-the-art site is the one-stop shop for everything NEC. NEC Front Row content is free, visit
necfrontrow.com to begin watching the Terriers at home or on the road.
